Woody Allen
Movie Review: You Hurt My Feelings
3.5 stars out of 5I’m feeling a bit self-conscious. This whole movie is about hurt feelings; what if writer/director Nicole Holofcener (“Who I’ve had drinks with,” said in my best Jon Lovitz voice) googles this review and finds out I didn’t think it was perfect, and then feels all sad? Alas, like Lee Nails, I […]
Movie Review: A Rainy Day in New York
4 stars out of 5 I generally don’t review movies that are on streaming services (in this case, Amazon Prime Video), but I did not have the option of watching A Rainy Day in New York in a theater. What is this, Communist Russia?!? Now, there are those who will dismiss out of hand anything […]
Movie Review: Wonder Wheel
4 stars out of 5 Aryan wonderboy Justin Timberlake cast as “Mickey Rubin”? When will we Jews finally get a break in Hollywood? Still, JT does a fine job here, as does the entire ensemble in yet another very good film from the late-era Woody Allen. I like elder Wood Man, I really do — […]
Movie Review: Café Society
4 stars out of 5 Since 1991, I’d seen 24 of the previous 25 Woody Allen films in the theater. (For you trivia nerds: Melinda and Melinda) And in the past handful of years, I’ve enjoyed a ritual of seeing Woody’s annual summer release. In the dark, air-conditioned theater, it was like taking a little […]
Movie Review: Irrational Man
4 stars out of 5 Every time Woody Allen makes a movie, I go see that movie, and I tend to enjoy them. If that makes me an irrational man in your eyes, so be it. This time around, I was really impressed that, despite the comforting presence of many Allen touchstones, he was still […]
Movie Review: Magic in the Moonlight
3.5 stars out of 5 We have kind of an arrangement: Woody Allen makes movies, and I go see them. There’s a certain comfort level. The credits font, the old-timey music. I always think they’re good—and sometimes they’re very good. Sometimes they’re more developed, and sometimes—like with this one—they’re more like a novella. Or maybe […]
Movie Review: Fading Gigolo
3.5 stars out of 5 In 1987, I saw John Turturro throw his mother out the window. Don’t worry, he was playing Heinz in the excellent movie Five Corners. Twenty-seven years later, Turturro is throwing decorum out the window as the title character in Fading Gigolo. Triple-threat Turturro is the writer, director, and star of […]
Movie Review: Blue Jasmine
4 stars out of 5 I will admit to not knowing the difference between Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet. Thankfully, Woody cast Peter Sarsgaard and not Alexander Skarsgard, who I confuse with Stellan Skarsgard. This could’ve easily turned into a Shakespearean comedy. Instead, it’s barely a Woody Allen comedy. Closer to a tragedy, really. And […]
Movie Review: To Rome With Love
3.5 stars out of 5 The Woody Allen World Tour rolls on: New York, London, Barcelona, Paris, and now… Rome. Hey, for those of us who can’t afford international travel, it’s not a bad deal. Woody is becoming a cinematic EPCOT. This one feels like Woody Lite, but I don’t really have a problem with […]
Jack Silbert, curator